Fast Serger Pillow Case - 20 min. finish

Have you considered making pillow cases for charity?

If so, I have a really fast way for you to finish...

Serger Club was this evening and wow, what a great project we learned from Julie at http://www.jrsewfun.com/ !

After making this pillow case using an overlock stitch on the serger in only 20 minutes, I was thinking about the possibilities for weddings and Christmas!

A little embroidery like "His" and "Hers" or an anniversary, birthday or wedding date would be nice along the edge of each case for a quick, personalized, meaningful present.

Here are the supplies you need for one pillow case:

thread, sewing machine or serger, scissors, ruler, cutting mat, rotary cutter
3/4 yd main fabric (7/8 yd for a King-sized pillow case) I chose a Moda sunflower pattern
1/3 yd for sashing  (you could embroider prior to sewing together) My choice was a golden yellow tone on tone
3" trim  (this will be folded wrong sides together in half and ironed to go along the full length of the main fabric)  mine is green

Lay the main fabric out in one, single layer, right side up, then place the 3" trim that has been folded in half and ironed across the entire length of the main fabric:

 Then take the sashing and lay it across the two fabrics, right side down:

Re-pin; this time the sashing, trim and main fabric all together (there will be four layers because the trim is folded in half - make sure all raw edges are facing the same direction (north).

Once that is all pinned, then flip the sashing (yellow) piece up.

Beginning at the bottom of the main fabric, roll it up...

and keep on rolling until the bottom edge of the main fabric meets the top edge of the other two fabrics, then secure with pins along the entire length.

This reminds me of a hot dog inside an uncut bun!

Pick up your "hot dog" and bring it to your serger or sewing machine and sew or serge along the entire length, all layers together:

Here's what it looks like after receiving an overlock stitch:

Now, turn the "hot dog" right side out:

This is what you have - the top edges are all finished with no seams showing...

Now, with WRONG sides together, serge the bottom and up one side:

Serging the side:

Turn the pillow case so the wrong sides are facing out, then

using a regular sewing machine, sew a 5/8" seam around the bottom and side where you earlier serged.  This will create a seamless look once turned right side out called a French seam.

Wa-lah!  There's your finished pillow case, ready for donating or giving to make someone feel special!

One more project I'm currently working on has to deal with organization.

I have a lot of kettles on different fires, so to speak, so I've decided 3 ring binders are the way to go...

So far, I've got...

1.  Blogger Stuff : Guest Speakers and Give Aways, mail receipts, etc.

2.  Quilt Patterns (free patterns, etc.)

3.  Free Motion Quilting (I plan on filling this with practice quilt sandwiches marked with

date, thread choice, needle, tension, reference point for FMQ pattern, etc. for future use.)

4.  Rock n Recipes (http://www.rocknrecipes-rocknquilts.blogspot.com/)

5.  Baby Lock Quest Workboook and manuals to study

I need to add more manuals for machine embroidery, serging, sewing machine purchase receipts, serial numbers and warranties, AccuQuilt list of ones I have and ones I'd like to get, one for the New Generation Quilting Frame which will arrive in about two weeks, and I'm sure I'll think of even more!

Direct link to my guest blogger and quilt pattern give-away which will close on May 16, 2011:

http://rocknquilts.blogspot.com/2011/05/guest-blogger-and-three-give-aways.html